“I have worked hard over the summer – I knew I had to – and I haven’t missed a day yet so hopefully that continues.

“For me it has been a long road, everyone knows that, so personally it is just nice to get back on the grass every day. It was a double session for me today but it was nice for me to just be there on the grass with the lads and not watching like I was last season.

“There is a still a lot of hard work to go for me but I am looking forward to featuring more.”

MacDonald has received support from across the football world after breaking his leg in a match at Reading in April 2017, with Latics fans continually sending the former Swansea City and Bournemouth midfielder their best wishes.

“I am not really on Twitter a lot,” he added. “But when I do go on and I see nice messages, I feel the need to reply, because people have taken time out to wish me well.”

On the squad as a whole, MacDonald added a positive update on the work done so far.

“We have had our first full day in La Cala and it has been tough,” he explained. “We had a session this morning and a good session just this afternoon. I am hoping for a bit more of a chilled evening tonight!

“I think we have done it the right way around, we did a lot of long distance running to start with, gradually cutting down the time and we’re now getting a lot sharper.

“The boys are looking good, it’s been a tough couple of weeks, but it’s pre-season and that’s to be expected.

“With the way we want to play and the quality of the squad we have got, we are trusted really to look after ourselves over the summer so as soon as we come back the balls are out and that’s a good start for us.

“It’s a training week and we are not on holiday at all, we are out here to work hard, we all know that and for the new lads especially it is good to get to know them and have them involved with the whole squad for five days. There is a lot of bonding going on and it’s as much for them as it is for the whole team.”